My Love the Storm
by Paisley Mae
Summary: [Storm Universe] Owen and Amelia try to define their stormy and complicated relationship on Valentine's Day. Co-written with CileSuns92. One shot.


**Nicole's A/N: Happy Valentine's Day! So … this little oneshot was written precisely two years ago. Originally, Irene and I were planning an Amelia and Owen series to be written alongside Storm, but then Derek died and we lost all inspiration for it.**

 **This story is set during the last few chapters of Storm 1 (A Storm Is Going To Come). You don't have to be familiar with the Storm universe to enjoy it, though it might help. While the Storm series is largely about Meredith and Derek, Owen and Amelia do play an important role in the universe and are definitely endgame, so we wanted to give readers an inside look at their relationship.**

 **Neither of us really care for their relationship on the show, so parts may come off as OOC for diehard "Omelia" fans. Storm was started before Amelia and Owen were even a couple, so their relationship doesn't align with how you know it per the show. Meredith learns in A Storm Is Going To Come that Owen and Amelia are sleeping together, and Derek doesn't find out until the sequel, Eye of the Storm. If you're interested in getting to know our Owen and Amelia and also love MerDer, please check out the Storm stories on Irene's account (CileSuns92).**

 **Without further ado, I hope you enjoy this little oneshot. :)**

* * *

 **My Love the Storm**

* * *

Valentine's Day is supposed to be _the_ day of love. It's the day men and women who are in relationships flee to the stores to stock up on chocolates, red roses, heart-shaped cookies, and assortments of other sugary treats. Then the restaurant business thrives in the evening, because couples everywhere make their arrangements for the perfect date.

For the unlucky (or _lucky_ , some may beg to differ) singles out there, it's a day to stay in, to binge watch your favorite show on Netflix with your cat. Or, if you're a surgeon, it's the perfect day to pick up an extra shift so your colleagues who are in relationships can have the night off.

Most people fall into one of two categories on Valentine's Day: either single or taken. As the day approaches, they know how to plan accordingly. They know if they're going to be getting a box of chocolates from their lover or a bouquet of roses. Or maybe they don't know exactly what they're getting, but at least they know they'll get something.

Singles know to pick up the extra shift, or to plan to buy their own chocolate.

But what are you supposed to do if you don't know for sure if you're single?

Amelia watches as Meredith and Derek walk off, hand in hand, and she can't help but cringe. Meredith was giddy. Giddier than she's seen her in months. Heck, giddier than she's _ever_ seen her. Amelia knows she should be happy for her, that she and Derek are getting along and not biting each other's heads off, but she can't shake off the tiny whelms of jealousy that are soiling her insides.

What does she have to be jealous about? She could be _married_ right now to the perfect man. The most perfect handsome, amazing man. She made a choice, and now she has to live with it. Now, she is alone on Valentine's Day. All alone.

Well, not completely alone. Andrew stands next to her. "Cement Guy," they called him. His and Beth's story is a strange one, indeed. They were both admitted to the hospital on the same day years ago. Beth with her brain tumor, and Andrew was embedded in a pile of cement. As it turns out, he was trying to impress another girl. A girl who wasn't worthy of his love. Then he met Beth, and the rest is history. Love is funny like that. It comes when you're least expecting it, and with whom you least expect.

Andrew, too, looks lonely today. Nestled behind the loneliness, though, are tinges of insidious fear. Fear she knows too well. Fear that she, too, feels right in this moment.

"How long?" Andrew asks suddenly, his voice hoarse and shaky.

"I don't know," she responds honestly. "A few hours, a few days … we have no way to predict that, Andrew. You should go home, get some rest."

"I don't…" Then he freezes, his face whitening, before he continues, "I don't want her to be alone. I don't want her to be alone when she wakes up."

"It's okay, Andrew," Amelia replies. "She won't be alone. I won't leave her side. I promise."

Sweet Andrew. His eyes glisten with pure sincerity. He's the picture of a perfect boyfriend. The kind of guy every girl wants, or says she wants. Women always say that they want an honest, compassionate man who will stick by their side no matter what, in sickness and in health.

Why is it, then, that nice guys always finish last?

James was a nice guy. He was not only nice guy. He was a _perfect_ guy. The kind of guy most girls only see in the movies. Guys like James come around maybe once in a lifetime. He was tall, dark, handsome, _and_ nice. He was perfect. Yet, she let him go.

Sometimes Amelia wonders if there's something wrong with her. Something so wrong with her that she's incapable of loving someone who's perfect. She cared deeply for James, but she wasn't _in love_ with him. Not like she was with Ryan, anyway.

Love isn't love unless it hurts. At least according to Amelia's personal experience. It didn't hurt to be with James. In fact, being with James was just the opposite. It was easy, simple. She could have lived the rest of the life with James and never complained. She would have lived a fairly happy life, too.

Yet, something was missing. Maybe it was just that: the absence of pain. She didn't miss him when he had to man the ER and she had the day off. Nor did she spend hours fantasizing about what they would do when they finally saw each other again. Sex was good, decent, but it was by no means incredible.

Looking back, she can't even begin to imagine making love to James - and only James - for the rest of her life.

Coming to Seattle was her wake-up call. She realized there was no way she could marry James. And it wasn't babysitting her niece and nephew that opened her eyes. Zola and Bailey definitely proved to be a handful that first day, but it wasn't them. She adores her niece and nephew, even if they can be a handful. It was after.

Maybe she'd come to Seattle hoping Derek would give her the big brother lecture, declaring she wasn't fit to be someone's wife. Perhaps she was just looking for any excuse to tell James they had to break off their short-lived engagement.

But Derek _didn't_ lecture her. In fact, much to her surprise, with a bright smile on his face, he'd said congratulations and then shamelessly handed her his baby boy. Looking back, she wonders if Derek was subtly telling her she wasn't fit for wifehood and motherhood.

Maybe it was his idea of a cruel joke. Derek never was the type of subtle, though. Their mother is the one who gives subtle lectures. Not her big brother. Usually, Derek doesn't bother hesitating telling her when she's being stupid.

And then the one time she wanted him to tell her she was being stupid, _he didn't_.

He didn't have to, though. She realized she wasn't fit to be James's wife on her own. The realization came a week after she had been in Seattle. A whole week. She went three days without even talking to James, and then he called her on day four when she was in surgery with Derek. When she didn't answer, he'd blown up her phone with frantic voicemails.

The irony of it all? She hadn't missed him. Not once. When she was with him, she almost always felt a void. Like something was missing. Then she came to Seattle, and suddenly, she doesn't feel that void any longer. How is that even possible?

That's when she realized she _doesn't_ need James. James was perfect in every which way. _Too_ perfect. But they weren't right for each other, and so she broke off the engagement, moved into her brother's guest house, and sang, " _LA Goodbye!"_ and, " _Hello Seattle!"_

She's built a whole new life for herself in Rain City. Living under her brother's and sister-in-law's roof required a bit of an adjustment. For one, she's never lived in a house with a preschooler and a baby. She's the baby of her family. The "oops" baby. So living across the hall from two young children is definitely an adjustment.

Living across the hall from two rugrats soon became the least of her problems. Not long after she'd ended her engagement and signed her contract at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, Derek was offered a job in Washington DC and wanted to uproot his family across the country. Meredith initially agreed to go with him, but not long after changed her mind. Soon the _dream_ house transformed into the _nightmare_ house. Meredith and Derek were fighting. All the time. At all hours of the night. They didn't seem to care if others, including their own children, were trying to sleep.

Amelia stayed to comfort the kids at first, then, eventually, she started trolling the hospital for cases so she'd have an excuse not to go home and listen to their bickering. Or worse: the awkward silences. After Derek chose to stay in Seattle for his wife and kids, the situation only worsened. Meredith and Derek's battles became more intense, and they would go days without even looking at each other.

For the most part, Amelia couldn't help but side with her sister-in-law. Derek was an asshole. Amelia of all people knows that, being his younger sister and having had him boss her around her entire life. She was easily able to feel Meredith's pain.

Then, one day she woke up and Derek was gone. Meredith said he'd been offered the job in DC again and had decided to take it. Just like that, he'd decided to move to DC and leave his family behind. Amelia was surprised, but not so much either. She and Derek are runners. They run when life gets difficult. He ran from Addison, and now it seems like he is running again.

She just hopes he's going to return for more than a visit soon, even if she doesn't miss the drama. His family is important to him, she can tell that. Meredith is good for him, and he has two beautiful children with her. Her brother isn't the type of guy to abandon his children, at least she doesn't think he is, not after how they both had their father taken from them, right in front of their eyes.

In many ways, she and her brother are one mind. It pains her to admit it, but they are so much alike. She ran from her fiance, and now she's here. Here in Seattle, where Derek met the love of his life.

And she may have just found love here, too, and it feels dangerous. Like playing with fire. This love … it's like a storm waiting to happen. Amelia can't remember the last time she was this scared. Being with James was never this scary. She feels like loving this man could destroy her. She already feels herself crumbling into tiny pieces.

She's slept with a fair amount of people during her lifetime and did have a number of "sex friends" throughout her adventurous youth. Nothing serious. Her previous sex friends were just that... _sex friends_. Their agreement was mutual from the beginning, and it was okay. No strings attached sex, in her opinion, was the best kind of sex. Sex didn't get messy until feelings started getting involved.

Her heart aches heavily in her chest as she thinks of him. She hasn't heard from Owen since last night, when she stupidly decided to proclaim in front of all the nurses that _she_ was the one banging the chief. It was a boneheaded, stupid decision, though she'd had the best intentions. She just wanted to get the spotlight off Meredith, and apparently it had worked, because she's pretty sure she'd seen some nurses gawking and whispering earlier.

But no word from Owen Hunt.

Her heart crumbles as she stands alone in the desolate hallway, now that Andrew has left. Surely everyone is out and about with their special Valentine's. Amelia feels more alone now than ever.

Amelia checks her phone. No notifications or messages. She taps her messages, revealing her most recent texts. She then touches Owen's name, tempted to text him right now.

Instead, she puts her phone in her pocket.

She stares into Beth's room, at her motionless body, and enters the hospital room. The consistent rhythmic beeps are the only sound that fills the room. Amelia sits beside Beth's bed and whispers, "I guess it's just you and me tonight, Beth."

Hopefully Beth will wake up soon so she'll have someone to talk to.

* * *

Owen Hunt is not a nervous man. He's a soldier and a Chief and he can keep it together better than the average human being.

Not when it comes to Amelia Shepherd.

He hadn't been able to keep it together with Cristina, either, but this thing he has going on with Amelia ... it's different. A good different, he thinks. He hopes. He needs different after the mess of his last marriage.

When the neurosurgeon is in his line of sight he becomes a blubbering, rambling, uncoordinated mess. And he has no idea why.

Okay, he has an idea, but it scares the crap out of him.

He sighs loudly, straightening his tie for the millionth time, wondering if he should have worn his scrubs instead. He looks good in scrubs, and they don't try to choke him when he attempts a deep breath. He needs a crash course on romance all over again.

Marrying Cristina ruined all attempts he had at romance and now, first time out of the gate after years of neglected Valentine's Days, his hands are shaking as he clutches the box of chocolates.

By now he's sure they have melted, as sweaty as his palms are.

Is Amelia even the romantic type? He knows Derek is the romantic one in his marriage, but what about Amelia? She's hardcore as much as Cristina, even though she swoons over her niece and nephew whenever she babysits. She should appreciate chocolates, right?

A lump forms in his throat when he sees her sitting vigil at her tumor patient bedside, her eyes on the monitors, then flickering briefly over her phone screen before they travel back on the young woman's face.

He knocks gently against the doorframe, Amelia's eyes snapping towards him.

Her smile could light up a room. Owen swallows thickly.

"Hi," she says tiredly, sitting up straighter.

"H-Hey," he stutters. _Oh, he's gonna fuck this one up._

"Stuck here tonight?" she asks, a twinkle in her eyes for a second.

"How's she doing?" he asks. Neutral ground is good. He needs to melt the ice cube stuck in his throat before he even attempts romance.

"Still fighting the anesthesia," she sighs. "Derek did a good job though. He and Meredith need this win with Beth," she adds, sighing, her eyes trailing over Beth's body. "Were you there for their trial surgery?"

Owen shakes his head. "I was in Afghanistan back then."

"Have you seen the surgery?"

Owen shakes his head again. "Why? Did something happen?"

"Magic, freaking magic," Amelia mutters. "Though Beth needed the magic."

Yeah, he has no idea what to say to that.

"Do you think she will be okay?" He knows it's lame, but he asks anyway.

"If she wakes up in the next twenty-four hours, yeah."

Silence stretches between them, only the sounds of the machines filling it, calm and regular, unlike his heartbeat. Owen is so glad he's not the one with ECG wires stuck on his chest.

"Are you staying here tonight?" he mumbles, his stomach butterflies waking up. He feels like a teenage boy with his first crush and he hates it. He hates and loves it at the same time.

"Yeah, Meredith was dead on her feet and Derek…" Amelia sighs. "He takes care of her. He makes her lighter."

Owen inhales loudly. He wants that, too, but he has no idea how to get it, or if he'll ever be able to be that someone. He knows he's no McDreamy, he doesn't have charm, he's rough and sometimes he feels on the brink of PTSD all over again, he will never be McDreamy.

He shakes his head, knowing that Amelia deserves better. She had it rough in her life, she deserves a good guy, one that takes care of her, one that she knows will never hurt her. He's bad for her, so very bad.

"Here," he says, thrusting the box of chocolates in her lap, cringing at his own attempt at romance.

Amelia stares alternatively at him and the square, golden box in her lap for a minute, speechless.

"Happy Valentine's Day," he mumbles, knowing he's blushing as he stands awkwardly on the balls of his feet, and he feels like rocking, like a mental patient. Where the hell is badass trauma surgeon Major Hunt? Who the hell is this blumbering mess?

"Do you...coffee?" Amelia blurts, her eyes widening a little at her discombobulated sentence. "I can find a resident to sit with Beth and…"

Coffee would be good. They could find a nice table and sit together for a few minutes, she could eat a bunch of chocolate, maybe they can laugh…

"Coffee is good," he agrees. "I'll see if there's any brewed at the nurses' station."

"I'll page Edwards to watch Beth. She's the on-call resident. For some reason, Derek can't stand her. She's a good resident, though, so I'm not sure why … "

"Are you worried about Derek finding out about you leaving his prized possession with his least favorite resident?" Owen asks, wondering if he would have a talk with Shepherd about mistreating residents although he has no real evidence that Derek is mistreating Stephanie. Still, if he's denying her certain surgeries or privileges because "he doesn't like her," then they have an issue. However, if he said something to Derek, then Derek might suspect something is up between him and Amelia … and he's not sure if he's ready for the wrath of Derek Shepherd just yet.

"What Derek doesn't know can't hurt him. He and Meredith will be too busy having sixty-seven rounds of sex tonight ... I hope," Amelia says.

"Sixty-seven? Wow, that's a specific number," notes Owen.

"Mmm, I like specific," Amelia hums. Is she flirting? Owen thinks she is, but he's not sure. He's been out of the game for so long, he's not sure if he would recognize a woman flirting with him even if she was spelling it out to him.

After Stephanie arrives to sit with Beth, he and Amelia begin their quest for coffee, but they somehow they end up in an on-call room, instead.

* * *

When the door behind them closes, Amelia welcomes Owen's fast kiss with open arms. Her arms wrap around him and her hands run through his hair as he pushes her against the bed. His hands fall to her scrub waistband, and he runs his fingers across her belly button. A shiver runs down her spine, and she feels her pulse quickening as she anticipates his next move. . .

"Mmm," hums Owen. "Amelia, I … we need to talk."

She pulls away, alarmed by Owen's words because she hasn't predicted them.

"About... "

"About...this...us."

"I don't understand." But she knows what's coming. He just brought her chocolate on Valentine's Day, and now they're in an on-call room together. Amelia knows exactly what's coming, and she's not ready for it. She'll never be ready for it. It's the reason she left Los Angeles, and the reason she ran from James. James was an amazing guy. She ran from an amazing guy.

Owen is pretty amazing, too.

She doesn't deserve amazing.

"Amelia, who am I to you?" he asks the dreaded question.

"Owen, we don't have to have this conversation. Can't we just keep things the way they are? I like things the way they are." She kisses him lightly on the cheek.

"Amelia, I'm not...I'm not the casual sex type of guy. I'm sorry, I'm not, and I won't ever be. I'm a relationship guy, and when I love someone, I want the whole world to know. Damnit, Amelia, I want to hold your hand in public, and go on double dates with Meredith and Derek! I want you to be able to spend the night at the trailer with me without worrying about if Derek is going to see you over there. I don't want a fling, Amelia. I want you. I love _you_ , Amelia."

The panic signals telling her to run are going off in her brain. She wants to run, make up an excuse to go check on Beth.

"Owen, I-"

Then her pager buzzes, taking her one hundred percent by surprise. No excuse-making up needed. Saved by the pager.

"I have to get that," she finishes, unraveling from Owen Hunt, suddenly not wanting to leave. "We'll talk later," she adds with a flirty smile, offering him promise. All of a sudden, she wants to tell him that she loves him, too, and she wants all those things too...but it's scary. And soon. The pager is just buying her some time. She'll find a way to tell him that, too, now that she knows how he feels.

Just not yet.

Love is funny. When you want it, it's nowhere to be found. When you don't, it's everywhere, and you can't fight love … even if it's stormy.

Stormy love is the best kind of love, because that's when you know it's real.

* * *

 **Irene's A/N: We tried a shot at writing Omelia. We hope you enjoyed it, and if you need clarifications (or a refresher!) about the Storm universe, don't hesitate to ask. Thank you for reading!**


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